Man, if you were looking to bang your head and stomp your feet like a possessed Shaman channeling the spirit world in order to alter your reality for a couple of hours, then ending up at the Mastodon and Queens of the Stone Age concert was your portal to such mania. These two bands on the same bill was a gift and they delivered the goods. Mastodon was so ferocious and loud they shook the hell out of the brand new Nokia Theater until I thought the freshly poured concrete foundation was going to crumble. Actually, I kind of wished it did (Karma, I know). It’s yet another corporate shrine just like the Staples Center across the street and the Home Depot Center down the freeway. Gee, let’s name another theater after a consumer product or manufacturer. Let’s all worship phones, stationary and laminate flooring. How about naming a theater after a feminine hygiene product next time? Let’s call it the Summer’s Eve Amphitheater. What does a douche bag have to do with a performance venue these days? Everything apparently. And after glancing around the theater during Mastodon’s set, it looked like a few people were about to crumble too. I saw a slick-looking dude that looked like he was on his way to a trendy Las Vegas club sitting in fetal position in his seat and covering his ears. I thought to myself, “That’s right pussy. Cower before the might of Mastodon! You came on the wrong night. The Backstreet Boys reunion show is next week.”
It took a while for the sound guy to dial in Mastodon. By the 5th song, “Capillarian Crest,” the sound guy finally figured out how to not make Mastodon’s guitars sound so muddy. The sound improved in time to hear the intricate guitar work and mind-blowing time changes in “Capillarian Crest.” Then they riffed right into “Colony of Birchmen” which actually features Josh Homme’s backing vocals during the chorus on Mastodon’s latest album Blood Mountain. It’s obvious that Mastodon and QOTSA have a mutual respect for each other’s music as QOTSA themselves have deep metal roots.
After 11 songs, Mastodon quickly evacuate the stage and make way for an army of QOTSA crew who climb up on ladders to remove sheets that are used to cover these crazy looking chandeliers hanging above the stage. They look like mini UFOs hanging directly above each member of the band. And after seeing what these lights can do and the effects they are capable of, they might as well be UFOs. At this point, the theater is packed and the pungent scent of really good weed starts wafting around. It smelled like the whole place was hitting a giant collective medical marijuana-grade joint. I love the look of frustration on the security guard’s faces when they can’t find the tokers. Goddamn that weed smelled good.
QOTSA come out and get right to it with a song called “Regular John.” The song could have been about soliciting the services of a prostitute or about a guy named John who has frequent bowel movements—it didn’t matter because it was absolutely rocking. QOTSA play ridiculously tight, I’ll even say flawless. There’s no weak link in that band. Josh Homme and his guitar player belt out eerie guitar solos and chord progressions with ease. Joey Castillo mercilessly beats the hell out of his drums with controlled skill. Everyone has serious chops. Their songs also have a hypnotic effect to them. You get lulled, swayed and pulled into the songs as they crescendo and break down seamlessly. They can go from quiet to loud as if the entire band is controlled by a single volume knob. They are kind of like a live rock version of what a trance DJ tries to do with a crowd as far as using the music to steer and direct the audience in one direction or another. And with a few hits of that really good weed, QOTSA will take you for a ride on their rollercoaster or rather their “Fun Machine.”
Halfway into their set I see the bass player’s body spontaneously shift over about a foot and shift back to where he was originally standing. The only problem with this is that the bass player had his feet planted and was standing still while he appeared to shape-shift. I blinked my eyes a few times and blamed the illusion on my dried out, way-outworn contact lenses. Then Josh Homme does the same thing until finally the entire band seemed to be in two different places at one time. They were moving around on stage as though someone had taken a bunch of still shots of the band in different positions and then ran those still shots through a projector and a strobe light. MZ and I looked at each other as if to say WTF was that? Did we eat some mushrooms on accident? We figured out the creepy lighting effect was coming from the UFO-looking chandeliers that were hanging above each guy on stage. In addition to the bizarre teleportation lighting effect, the backdrop behind the band suddenly morphs into a 3 dimensional scene from deep outer space. Between the sights and the sounds coming from that stage, I almost felt for a moment that I was tripping my ass off without anything but a pint of really expensive New Castle Ale in my system. Entranced by the music and the visuals, the only thing I remember saying to myself was, “goddamn that weed smells good.”
Mastodon: www.mastodonrocks.com
Queens of the Stone Age: www.qotsa.com
